I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 833 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize 

the Secretary of Education to make grants for recruiting, training, and 

retaining individuals, with a preference for individuals from underrepresented groups, as teachers at public elementary and secondary schools, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2015 

Mrs. DAVIS of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to make 

grants for recruiting, training, and retaining individuals, 

with a preference for individuals from underrepresented 

groups, as teachers at public elementary and secondary 

schools, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Diverse Teachers Re5 cruitment Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Issues of teacher diversity and cultural 

4 awareness are critical factors influencing the 

5 achievement gap among elementary school and sec6 ondary school students and must be addressed by 

7 national education policy, as recommended in the re8 port entitled ‘‘Assessment of Diversity in America’s 

9 Teaching Force’’, presented by the National Collabo10 rative on Diversity in the Teaching Force in 2004. 

11 (2) Some experts believe the lack of diversity 

12 among public schoolteachers inhibits positive learn13 ing outcomes generally, and can leave students in 

14 underrepresented groups without role models to 

15 whom the students can relate, which may lead to 

16 poorer performance in the classroom. Statistics show 

17 that for students in some underrepresented groups, 

18 a lack of diversity among public school teachers con19 tributes to lower standardized test scores and lower 

20 graduation rates. 

21 (3) Department of Education statistics confirm 

22 a lack of diversity among public schoolteachers. Dur23 ing the school year of 2007 through 2008, an esti24 mated 83.1 percent of public schoolteachers were 

25 Caucasian, while 7.1 percent were Latino, 7 percent 

26 were African-American, and 1.2 percent were Asian. 


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1 Of all public schoolteachers, 24.1 percent were male 

2 and 75.9 percent were female. 

3 (4) Teacher demographics should be sufficiently 

4 diverse to provide the educational benefits described 

5 in paragraphs (1) and (2), including ensuring that 

6 students have role models— 

7 (A) from diverse backgrounds and racial 

8 and ethnic groups; and 

9 (B) of different genders. 

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

11 (1) to further a compelling interest in obtaining 

12 the educational benefits that result, particularly for 

13 schools with a concentration of individuals in 1 or 

14 more categories described in section 

15 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary and Sec16 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)), from a diverse group of ele18 mentary school and secondary school teachers, in19 cluding— 

20 (A) promoting learning outcomes generally, 

21 and reducing achievement gaps for diverse stu22 dent bodies; and 

23 (B) increasing student cultural awareness 

24 by better preparing students for an increasingly 

25 diverse workforce and society; 


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1 (2) to provide narrowly tailored activities by 

2 funding the activities for the period needed to attain 

3 meaningful numbers or a critical mass of teachers 

4 who are individuals from underrepresented groups, 

5 sufficient to address the low employment of teachers 

6 from such groups, and offering the activities for 

7 other teachers as well; and 

8 (3) to remedy the historically low employment 

9 among teachers in public elementary schools and 

10 secondary schools who are individuals from under11 represented groups. 

12 SEC. 3. RECRUITMENT, TRAINING, AND RETENTION OF 

13 TEACHERS, INCLUDING TEACHERS FROM 

14 UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Elementary and 

16 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et 

17 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

18 part: 

19 ‘‘PART E—RECRUITMENT, TRAINING, AND RETEN20 TION OF TEACHERS, INCLUDING TEACHERS 

21 FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS 

22 ‘‘SEC. 2501. GRANT PROGRAM. 

23 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—From amounts appropriated 

24 under section 2505, the Secretary shall make grants on 

25 a competitive basis to eligible entities for— 


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1 ‘‘(1) recruitment and outreach targeted toward 

2 recruiting individuals from underrepresented groups 

3 as teachers at public elementary schools and sec4 ondary schools; and 

5 ‘‘(2) providing training (on promoting learning 

6 outcomes, reducing achievement gaps for diverse 

7 student bodies, and increasing student cultural 

8 awareness) and retention incentives (other than re9 tention rights) to teachers at public elementary 

10 schools and secondary schools. 

11 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary may only make a 

12 grant under subsection (a) to an eligible entity that— 

13 ‘‘(1) serves schools that have difficulty in— 

14 ‘‘(A) recruitment and outreach targeted to15 ward recruiting individuals from underrep16 resented groups as teachers; and 

17 ‘‘(B) training and retaining such individ18 uals as teachers; and 

19 ‘‘(2) submits an application at such time, in 

20 such form, and containing such information and as21 surances as the Secretary may require, including— 

22 ‘‘(A) a description of how the eligible enti23 ty through the activities the entity carries out 

24 with the grant funds— 


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1 ‘‘(i) will seek to conduct recruitment 

2 and outreach targeted toward recruiting 

3 individuals from underrepresented groups 

4 as teachers; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) will provide training and reten6 tion activities to all teachers at eligible ele7 mentary and secondary schools; 

8 ‘‘(B) a description of the difficulty con9 ducting recruitment and outreach targeted to10 ward, and training and retaining, individuals 

11 from underrepresented groups experienced by 

12 the schools served by the eligible entity; and 

13 ‘‘(C) information— 

14 ‘‘(i) demonstrating the educational 

15 benefits that the activities are designed to 

16 provide, resulting from a diverse group of 

17 elementary school and secondary school 

18 teachers, including— 

19 ‘‘(I) promoting positive learning 

20 outcomes generally, and reducing 

21 achievement gaps for diverse student 

22 bodies; and 

23 ‘‘(II) increasing student cultural 

24 awareness by better preparing stuVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H833.IH H833

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1 dents for an increasingly diverse 

2 workforce and society; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) demonstrating that the schools 

4 involved do not have a sufficiently diverse 

5 group of teachers to provide the benefits. 

6 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In making grants under subsection 

7 (a), the Secretary shall give priority to— 

8 ‘‘(1) eligible entities (or consortia of eligible en9 tities) that serve the most high-need schools; and 

10 ‘‘(2) eligible entities (or consortia of eligible en11 tities) that serve schools with concentrations of stu12 dents in 1 or more categories described in section 

13 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary and Sec14 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

15 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)) in their student populations. 

16 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity shall use 

17 funds received under this section to conduct the recruit18 ment and outreach described in subsection (a)(1), which 

19 may include— 

20 ‘‘(1) promotional and informational activities at 

21 institutions of higher education that serve large 

22 numbers of individuals from underrepresented 

23 groups; 

24 ‘‘(2) promotional and informational activities 

25 targeted toward candidates who are— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in career fields other than teaching; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) individuals from underrepresented 

4 groups; 

5 ‘‘(3) promotional and informational activities 

6 targeted toward undergraduate students who grad7 uated from a high school located within the eligible 

8 entity; and 

9 ‘‘(4) provision of funds to cover travel or lodg10 ing expenses of individuals from underrepresented 

11 groups who are being recruited as teachers under 

12 this section. 

13 ‘‘(e) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 

15 make a grant to an eligible entity under subsection 

16 (a) unless the eligible entity agrees that, with re17 spect to the costs to be incurred by the eligible enti18 ty in carrying out the activities for which the grant 

19 is awarded, the eligible entity will make available 

20 non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to not 

21 less than 10 percent of the Federal funds provided 

22 under the grant. 

23 ‘‘(2) SATISFYING MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

24 The non-Federal contributions required under para25 graph (1) may be— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in cash or in-kind, including services, 

2 fairly evaluated; and 

3 ‘‘(B) from— 

4 ‘‘(i) any private source; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) a State educational agency or 

6 local educational agency. 

7 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive or re8 duce the non-Federal contribution required by para9 graph (1) if the eligible entity involved demonstrates 

10 that the eligible entity cannot meet the contribution 

11 requirement due to financial hardship. 

12 ‘‘(f) DURATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—In determining wheth14 er to make a grant to an eligible entity for a local 

15 educational agency, the Secretary shall determine 

16 whether the elementary schools and secondary 

17 schools in the agency have attracted a sufficiently 

18 diverse group of teachers to provide the educational 

19 benefits described under subsection (b)(2)(C). 

20 ‘‘(2) GRANT.—The Secretary shall make the 

21 grant only if the Secretary determines that the 

22 schools described in paragraph (1) have not at23 tracted that group and need additional activities 

24 under this section to provide the educational bene25 fits. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2502. REPORTS TO SECRETARY. 

2 ‘‘An eligible entity receiving a grant under section 

3 2501(a) shall submit to the Secretary not later than 90 

4 days after the end of each school year in which the eligible 

5 entity receives grant funds a report that contains— 

6 ‘‘(1) a description of the activities for which the 

7 eligible entity used grant funds during such school 

8 year; 

9 ‘‘(2) data concerning, with respect to the 

10 schools served by the eligible entity— 

11 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals from 

12 underrepresented groups that began teaching 

13 during such school year; 

14 ‘‘(B) the retention rate of teachers who are 

15 individuals from underrepresented groups; 

16 ‘‘(C) in the case of the report covering the 

17 last school year in which the eligible entity re18 ceives grant funds, indicators of student aca19 demic achievement during such school year as 

20 compared with previous school years, 

21 disaggregated, if possible, by the achievement 

22 of— 

23 ‘‘(i) economically disadvantaged stu24 dents; 

25 ‘‘(ii) students from major racial and 

26 ethnic groups; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) students with disabilities; and 

2 ‘‘(iv) students with limited English 

3 proficiency; 

4 ‘‘(D) student graduation rates for the 

5 school year covered by the report as compared 

6 with previous school years, if applicable in the 

7 case of the schools served by the eligible entity; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(E) student attendance rates for the 

10 school year covered by the report as compared 

11 with previous school years; and 

12 ‘‘(3) a description of and data regarding such 

13 characteristics of the schools served by the eligible 

14 entity, and the students of such schools, as the Sec15 retary considers appropriate, including the number 

16 and percentage of students in each of the groups 

17 listed in clauses (i) through (iv) of paragraph (2)(C). 

18 ‘‘SEC. 2503. BEST PRACTICES INFORMATION CLEARING19 HOUSE. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall evaluate the 

21 success of the activities carried out by eligible entities 

22 using grant funds received under section 2501(a) and 

23 compile a database of best practices for recruiting, con24 ducting outreach to, training, and retaining individuals 

25 from underrepresented groups as public elementary school 


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1 and secondary school teachers. The Secretary shall make 

2 such database available to eligible entities (regardless of 

3 whether the eligible entities have received grants under 

4 such section) through an Internet Web site. 

5 ‘‘(b) FUNDS AVAILABLE.—Of the amounts appro6 priated to carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Sec7 retary may use not more than 10 percent to carry out 

8 this section during such fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 2504. DEFINITIONS. 

10 ‘‘In this part, the following definitions apply: 

11 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en12 tity’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency (or consor14 tium of local educational agencies); or 

15 ‘‘(B) an entity that— 

16 ‘‘(i) has entered into a partnership 

17 with a local educational agency (or consor18 tium of local educational agencies) in 

19 which the local educational agency (or con20 sortium of local educational agencies) is 

21 the primary partner; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) is a private nonprofit organiza23 tion, an educational service agency, an in24 stitution of higher education, or a State 

25 educational agency. 


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1 ‘‘(2) HIGH-NEED HIGH SCHOOL.—The term 

2 ‘high-need high school’ means a secondary school— 

3 ‘‘(A) in which the entering grade of the 

4 school is not lower than grade 9 and that in5 cludes grade 12; and 

6 ‘‘(B) that has a graduation rate of not 

7 more than 65 percent in each of the 2 academic 

8 years prior to the submission of the grant appli9 cation. 

10 ‘‘(3) HIGH-NEED MIDDLE SCHOOL.—The term 

11 ‘high-need middle school’ means a secondary 

12 school— 

13 ‘‘(A) in which the entering grade is not 

14 lower than grade 6 and the highest grade is not 

15 higher than grade 9; and 

16 ‘‘(B) from which not less than 35 percent 

17 of the students who complete such school enroll 

18 in a high-need high school. 

19 ‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘high20 need school’ means a public school, including a char21 ter school (as such term is defined in section 

22 5210(1))— 

23 ‘‘(A) in which not less than 40 percent of 

24 the enrolled students are eligible to receive free 

25 or reduced price lunches under section 9(b) of 


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1 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)); or 

3 ‘‘(B) that is a high-need high school or a 

4 high-need middle school. 

5 ‘‘(5) INDIVIDUAL FROM AN UNDERREP6 RESENTED GROUP.—The term ‘individual from an 

7 underrepresented group’ means an individual who is 

8 a member of a racial or gender group that has his9 torically been underrepresented among teachers in 

10 public elementary schools and secondary schools in 

11 the school district involved. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 2505. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

14 this part such sums as are necessary for fiscal years 2016 

15 through 2021.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

17 in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

18 Act of 1965 is amended by adding after the item related 

19 to section 2441 the following: 

‘‘PART E—RECRUITMENT, TRAINING, AND RETENTION OF TEACHERS, 

INCLUDING TEACHERS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS

‘‘Sec. 2501. Grant program. 

‘‘Sec. 2502. Reports to Secretary. 

‘‘Sec. 2503. Best practices information clearinghouse. 

‘‘Sec. 2504. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 2505. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

Æ 


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